


Brooklyn's Warning

by Aria_Lerendeair



Series: Facing the Fear of Forever [10]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, BAMF Alec Lightwood, BAMF Magnus Bane, Good Husband Alec Lightwood, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Magnus Bane, M/M, Self-Loathing, battle husbands, good communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25305691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Lerendeair/pseuds/Aria_Lerendeair
Summary: There was something in the air, something screaming with a sense of wrong, and a warning.Magnus might no longer be High Warlock of Brooklyn, but he'd walked and lived her streets too long not to heed her warning.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Facing the Fear of Forever [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727038
Comments: 17
Kudos: 342





	Brooklyn's Warning

**Author's Note:**

> So this particular installment isn't really plot-driven in terms of the overall verse, it's simply a chance for the boys to be BAMF-y and to deal with a bit more of their pasts and how they move forward together. 
> 
> This takes place six months after Magnus' return - so this is next in the timeline. 
> 
> Next up is the last "official" installment, but don't be surprised if I revisit this particular series at some point, I love it too much to let it go!!

There was something in the air and it was making his skin crawl. 

Magnus stood up and pushed himself out of his apothecary, resisting the urge to run his fingers through his hair. He paced through the house, along the bottom floor of it, trying to focus. He dismissed the questions from Elle, and from Anna when they both checked on him. 

But the itching under his skin didn't stop. 

It didn't help that Madzie had been summoned to the Institute to upgrade their wards, due to all the increased demonic activity that they had been seeing recently. Magnus paced past the front foyer again, staring out at the street impatiently. Everything looked normal. 

Everything _was_ normal. 

Alec was in his office, dealing with the Clave and their usual bullshit. He'd also been on the phone with Izzy and with Jace much more recently, working with them to coordinate more patrols. 

Magnus fought down the urge to growl. He pressed his fingers to the wall, checking the wards, and then double-checking the connection to the ley lines. Everything was solid and exactly what he needed it to be. Everyone in the home was safe. 

So why couldn't he settle? 

Magnus spun around on his heel and twisted magic around his fingers, ordering himself to focus. If something felt this off, _this_ wrong, something _was_ off, it was simply a matter of figuring out what it was. He just needed to figure out what it was. 

Stepping out the front door, Magnus took a deep breath, inhaling the scents of the city around him. Everything felt normal on the surface, but there was something just underneath it. Something lurking. 

He sent Alec a quick text, letting him know that he was going to take a walk around the block to see if he could figure out what was bothering him. Magnus didn't bother to look at the response he felt vibrate in his pocket. Instead, he took a deep breath and focused. 

He wasn't the High Warlock of Brooklyn any longer, but he'd walked her streets. He'd protected her people, learned every inch of her that there was and claimed her as his, just as he'd been claimed in turn. He could feel her drawing in, drawing close, trying to protect them from what was about to happen. 

"Tell me what's wrong," he whispered to the air, his eyes falling half-lidded as he started to walk towards the bay. "Tell me what's coming, what's _wrong."_

The air was hot, and the sky hazy. Magnus shed his jacket with a quick flick of his fingers, moving faster. Something was coming. He could feel the urgency settling into him now. He was moving in the right direction. 

He grabbed his phone and hit dial, not waiting for the call to connect for more than a second before he started speaking to Alec. "Brooklyn side of the city. Near the ocean. Something is coming. Warn the Institute, I'll hold it off," Magnus managed before he broke into a run, shoving the phone into his pocket, brushing past people, pushing them aside as he started to run. 

He could see the pier now, and the power from the city was pulsing in him now, fire red and urgent, begging him for help, against whatever was coming. Magnus drew power to his palms and ordered himself to focus. There were a few things that he never forgot, even in all these years of the magic lying dormant. 

Magnus hit the pier and raced out past it, just as all the water started to recede. "Get back!" he shouted, using magic to amplify his voice. "Get back, get out!" 

A footstep shook the shore and Magnus spun to look at the rift carefully being torn into the water, where the water was emptying into. His eyes widened as Edomai demons burst from the rift, clawing their way into the sky. With a vicious motion of his hands, the first few were destroyed, but he could feel more coming. 

A quick spell on his shoes, forcing down the fear and ordering himself to think of protecting Alexander and the children. Magnus faced the water, and then he was racing across the top of the waves, charging towards the opening. If he could get the rift sealed before more came through, there would be minimal damage done. The urgency from the city, from Brooklyn herself, pounded through his veins and he knew that Alec would have sounded the alarm. Magnus slid to a stop next to the rift and stared down at it in horror. 

Seconds later, two more Edomai demons burst from it, knocking him back and into the water. Magnus didn't manage to spell the rest of his body in time and he was sinking into the inky blackness. Panic laced through him and he screamed, thrashing in the water, kicking his shoes off and trying to break for the surface, but the pull of the rift was too much and he couldn't focus enough to use his magic. 

When a hand grabbed his wrist and _pulled,_ Magnus sucked in a desperate breath of air the second he broke to the surface, clinging hard to the hand, refusing to let go. He heaved in another breath, even as he was brought to the pier. He heard shouting, but he couldn't hear anything over the roar in the back of his mind, the screams, the flames...

"Magnus!" 

Magnus blinked, slowly, focusing on the hands that were suddenly wrapped around his face. He took another deep breath, blessedly free of water, and found that he was dry, not a trace of water left on him, and blinked again, realizing that Alexander was standing in front of him. 

"Magnus, can you hear me, are you all right?" 

"Alec?" Magnus breathed, shaking. The sight of a demon behind Alec had him leaping into action, throwing a ball of magic at it to destroy it before turning back to Alec in shock. "Did, did you pull me out?" 

Alec nodded, reaching out to grab Magnus and pull him in close. "Yes, _fuck,_ I saw you go under." 

Magnus took another deep breath and forced down the panic. He could compartmentalize. They didn't have time for this. He could deal with the panic later. "Thank you," he managed, turning his eyes back to the rift. "Rift first, we'll deal with that later." 

"Magnus, you need to go back-" 

Magnus glared at Alec over his shoulder, and his heart jumped into his throat as he realized that Alec didn't have any weapons, he didn't have anything to protect himself, since he couldn't use seraph blades any longer. "What about you, you need..." 

"I'm fine," Alec said, cupping Magnus' face. "So are you. I already healed you." 

"You hate healing," Magnus said with a huff. Alec hated lots of different kinds of magic. He wasn't good at them, he said. Warding, healing, he didn't like any of those. He blinked. What kind of magic did Alec like? What made his magic sing in joy? 

"Yeah, well," Alec said with a grin. "I was motivated, seeing my husband under the water." 

"Right." _Okay._ He could focus. Demons, they needed to handle the demons until the shadowhunters got there. "We need to, focus on containing the rift." 

"I'll help." Alec stood and gave Magnus a look, narrowing his eyes at him. "And you are not going back out on that water." 

"That would be very appreciated." Magnus summoned magic to his hands again and took another deep breath. He wasn't in the water any longer. He was fine, and he could feel the urgency pounding through his veins. He glanced towards Alec with a frown. "How are you..." 

"Oh!" Alec started to grin. "You haven't seen it, have you? Not like I'm in fights every day like I used to be." 

Magnus blinked, took a second, but then Alec was striding past him, magic leaping easily to his palms. A demon came for him and Magnus was ready to step in, but then Alec was holding a bow made of shimmering silver magic, an electric blue arrow snapping magic already nocked. His breath caught as he watched Alec loose it, and it hit the demon, destroying it in a second. 

Arrow after arrow, Alec systematically took down the demons flying from the rift, protecting him, firing as many arrows at once as he needed to. Magnus took a few extra seconds to gather his bearings, but then he was stepping up beside Alec to destroy another demon. Alec's eyes turned to him with a bright grin. 

The panic was steadily receding in favor of fighting side by side with Alec again. It had been decades since they'd needed to do this, but as more and more demons began to swarm out of the rift, Magnus found that it was a dance they'd never forgotten. Alec's left side was always his weakest, normally covered by his parabatai and Magnus knew to step into it without being asked. 

A grin curled his lips as one of his fireballs and one of Alec's arrows hit a demon at the same time, and then both their names were being called. Magnus turned to Isabelle and Jace, dressed in combat leathers, ordering shadowhunters into attack and containment positions. 

"You two got here early!" Isabelle said, grinning at them. "You feel up to closing the rift?" 

Alec shook his head. "Absolutely not. Magnus can't go back out on that water." 

Magnus took a deep breath and looked out at it. If they didn't close the rift, they'd need to wait for other warlocks to arrive and they might not have enough time to do that based on all of the demons coming through. "I don't think we have a choice, darling," he managed to get out, looking at Alec when Alec's bright blue eyes swung to his. He smiled faintly and offered a shrug. "You'll just have to rescue me if I fall again." 

"I will always rescue you," Alec said, staring at Magnus seriously. "Always." 

Magnus fisted his hand in Alec's shirt and yanked him into a hard kiss, grinning at him. "I know you will, Alexander, and I love you for it. But right now we have work to do. You cover my back, and I'll get the rift shut." 

Alec nodded. "All right. Good a plan as any." 

"We'll cover you as best we can and distract the demons," Isabelle promised. "Afterward, you need to tell me how you knew the rift was going to open. You had more warning than our censors did." 

"I'll explain later," Magnus promised her, and turned to face the water. He took a deep breath and reached out for Alec's hand, glad when it was grabbed, and then he jumped over the edge of the pier, landing on top of the water again, racing for the opening. This time, he didn't get as close and summoned magic to his hands. 

Beneath them, the ley lines were screaming with the unintentional weight of the dimensional rift and Magnus took another deep breath and focused on them, focused on the desire to help them and started to pull power from them with a grunt, focusing it on the rift. 

This time, when the warning came, it came _screaming_ across the ley lines, and both he and Alec flinched back from the rift, their magic flickering under the wave of pain that crashed through it. Magnus steadied himself and his magic, reaching for the rift again, but now he could feel the fire that was burning through the ley lines, all of that power being dumped into the rift. 

"Magnus!" Alec shouted, loosing another arrow, destroying a demon that had been about to dive for them. "What is that?!" 

"I don't know!" Magnus snapped back, even as his magic sputtered and he snarled, drawing more power into his hands, forcing it around the rift, casting the containment spell, until another three Edomai wraiths burst through it. "Dammit!" he snarled, even as Alec managed to dispatch one of them immediately. "I can't do containment and close it!" he shouted to Alec. 

Alec looked to the rift and assessed the river. "I've got an idea," he said, shifting his hold on his bow. "Stay here and be ready to close the rift. I'll get it blocked for you." 

"Where the hell are you-" Magnus turned to snap, but Alec was already sprinting back across the water, towards the beach where Izzy was. He felt a familiar snap of magic behind him and sagged in relief when the warding under his feet was strengthened by Madzie, who was now standing on the pier. 

A shadow overhead had him ducking, but when Magnus looked up, he saw that Alec was running in mid-air. His mouth fell open, but the flicker of Alec's blue magic and Madzie's silver had him realizing that he was standing on a magical platform. 

"Get ready Magnus," Alec shouted, drawing his bow back with a grunt. He closed his eyes and focused on drawing the power into the arrow, breathing through the pull and weight of the arrow. He could do this. He _could._ A small flick of his fingers and the spell on the tip of the arrow leaped to life, gathering quickly around the point. Alec poured all of the power into it that he could until he heard Isabelle's shouted warning. 

He released the arrow, a sonic boom echoing from his fingers as he did, and fired it straight at the rift. The demon trying to escape was immediately incinerated and Alec slammed his hands together, the magic erupting at his command before he pulled his hands apart, a webbed net growing over the rift, cackling white magic running across the netting. "Now, Magnus!" 

Magnus grunted and pressed more magic into the rift, focusing on getting it to shut. The roar from within it was getting louder and he could feel Alec's magic struggling to contain whatever was attempting to draw all of the power from the ley lines. Inch by inch, the rift started to shut, and Magnus could feel his veins aching under the weight of the power that he was using all at one time. It'd been decades since he'd attempted magic like this and he could already feel the exhaustion licking at the back of his mind. 

He shoved it back and kept pulling. There was a desperation to the voices behind him now, he had to close it, he had to. He stared as the netting Alec had put into place suddenly bulged, fighting back against the seal that had been put on the rift. Then there were claws hanging on the edge of the rift, through the water, giant ones, six to seven feet each, and Magnus felt the weight of the rift settle more firmly on him and him alone. 

_ "Magnus!"  _

Alec's scream echoed in his mind and Magnus could hear the fear in it when the figure trapped under the net turned to look at him, blazing red eyes and horns curling along his cheeks. Magnus stared in shock and the fire he'd felt racing through the ley lines was suddenly jolting through his magic. He screamed, his body bucking, the connection he was holding to the rift barely there as he stumbled, his magic on fire, and in agonizing pain. 

There was a rumble of a roar and Magnus dropped to his knees, staring at the water beneath him, the inky blackness there, ready to claim him when he failed. The fire burned hotter in him and he heard Alec's voice again, shouting his name above him, but it wasn't enough, he wasn't enough, he needed to be able to... 

Abruptly, the fire stopped and Magnus sucked in a frantic breath of air. His father's voice echoed in his mind, a reminder from long ago. 

_**"Our power has its roots in shadow and fire, Magnus. It is where our ultimate strength lies. Our anger, our wrath, meted out for any who would dare to attempt to overthrow a Royal."** _

The roar had gone quiet, there was no sound except for the gentle movement of the water brushing against the warded platform beneath him. Magnus closed his eyes. He remembered what that fire felt like. He'd used it, once, to its truest extent. Fire was never his enemy. 

_**"Fire will always obey you, and you alone. You command it. You rule it. You wield it, and you shall always own it."** _

Asmodeus' voice was low and sickening, but he was right. Magnus opened his eyes and stood up. The demon was almost through Alec's net. Holding out his hand, Magnus summoned the fire that had been burning through him and took a step forward. Any water near him evaporated in the space of an instant. He moved forward again and the demon's attention swung to him. 

Magnus smiled, tilting his head. "You think I fear fire?" he whispered. "I was _forged_ by fire." He pushed both his hands out, shoving all of the fire out of him and to the demon, watching as black flames surrounded the demon, making him scream. It was easy to force him back through the rift and to send the flames in after him, chasing any who dared to follow, reminding them that this world was protected by a Royal without equal. 

Once they were driven back, Magnus pulled his magic back and sealed the rift with a clap of his hands, the sound echoing in the silence of the battle. One by one, sounds started to drift back in. He could hear Alexander's and Madzie's shouts of his name. Magnus forced himself to blink again and looked around. There were two Edomai wraiths hovering in the sky. With a wave of his hand, they were gone in a flash of flames and black magic. He turned back to the pier and began to walk. 

"Magnus, _fuck,_ Magnus, are you-" Alec cut himself off and turned to Madzie. "Call your Mom, tell her to meet us back at the loft, now!" 

Magnus felt Alec's arms come around him and he wanted to push him away, warn him, because the fire was too hot, the flames were too hot, they always were. But then he was lifted off his feet and the exhaustion that had been teasing the back of his mind was suddenly there in full force and Magnus began to tremble and shake. "...'lec..." 

"I'm here, I'm here," Alec said, holding Magnus as close as he dared, watching another spout of black fire dance across Magnus' skin. His warlock mark was still out and glowing, even though his eyes were hazy. "Magnus, you gotta stay awake for me, we're getting Catarina, you're going to be okay, I promise." 

Magnus managed a vague nod, but the motion of his head was enough to make the encroaching blackness even worse, and surrendering himself to it was so much easier than staying awake as Alec had asked. Nothing felt so nice. 

~!~ 

Alec paced nervously across the room as Catarina slowly drew her magic over Magnus for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour. Her face was starting to show the strain of trying to figure out whatever was wrong with Magnus. Another jet of black flame danced over his skin and Catarina yanked her magic back with a hiss. 

"Fuck, this would be so much easier if that wasn't happening," Catarina mumbled, shaking her head. "But I can't find anything wrong with him. He's not even magically exhausted, there's more magic in him right now than I can remember feeling in him in decades." 

Alec pushed his fingers through his hair and settled on the edge of the bed, reaching out to take Magnus' hand, giving it a slow squeeze. "All right. I'll keep an eye on him tonight and let you know if anything changes. Can Madzie-" 

"Clary and Madzie are already there," Catarina said, offering Alec a smile. "All of the kids are very worried about you and Magnus, but we told them that you're both going to be okay." 

"Thank you," Alec said, smiling at her. "And thank you for coming to see to him." He bit his lip and looked at Magnus. "I just wish we could figure out what the hell is wrong." 

Catarina watched as more black flames danced over Magnus' skin and his face twisted briefly into a grimace. "You know, it might not be something wrong as much as it is something was unlocked that he'd kept buried, and now his body is assimilating it." 

Alec frowned. "What do you mean?" 

"I'm not sure," Catarina said. "But I've long suspected that Magnus cut off access to the full scope of powers that he possesses. Just, based on hints of things here and there." She turned her eyes on her friend. "He might have removed that block today, and that might be why he passed out, and why no one but you can touch him." 

Alec bit down on his lip and lifted Magnus' hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "All right. I'm not sure if that's the case or not, but I'll keep an eye on him tonight. Let you know if anything changes." 

Catarina nodded. "Sounds good, Alec. And, do me a favor?" 

Alec raised an eyebrow at her. 

"I know that you knew who Magnus' parent was not long after you started dating, but I don't know if you ever asked him what that meant. What it _really_ meant," Catarina started, hesitantly. "This might be tied into that." 

Alec thought about all the things Magnus had told him, had confessed to him. The horrible things that he'd done under Asmodeus' command, that he'd spent the rest of his life trying to make up. "He's told me some of them," he told her, glancing up. "But you don't have to worry about me leaving. I already know that I'm here for life." 

Catarina smiled and reached out to give Alec's shoulder a squeeze, summoning a portal for herself. "I'm going to get some rest. Make sure you do the same. I know that containment spell took a lot out of you." 

"I'll rest after he's woken up," Alec said, gesturing to Magnus. The least he could do was watch over Magnus to make sure that his magic didn't do anything that Magnus wouldn't have wanted. 

Catarina rolled her eyes. "Stubborn bastards, the both of you." 

Alec gave her another smile and watched her step into the portal before turning back to Magnus, stretching out beside him on the bed. He smiled when Magnus immediately curled closer to him with a small noise and pressed a kiss to the top of Magnus' head. "I'm here, I promise I'm here. You're safe and you're going to be okay." 

~!~ 

The loft was on fire. 

That was the first thing Magnus realized - that the entire loft was consumed by the black flames that were coming from him. His bedroom was destroyed, black and charred and Magnus sat up in bed, looking around frantically, only to look at the sight of a body made of ash next to him. 

His hand was shaking as he reached out to touch and watched it dissolve, his eyes wide. Shock rocketed through him and he screamed, jumping from bed in horror and fear and-

_ "Magnus!"  _

Magnus snapped his eyes open, sitting up in a rush, throwing himself out of bed, looking around the bedroom frantically. It was intact, there was no fire, there was no fire. Magnus sucked in a sobbed breath of air and lifted his eyes to see Alec on the bed, on his hands and knees, staring at him, worry clear in his eyes. 

"Alexander?" he whispered, staring at him. "You're...you're okay?" 

Alec clambered off the bed and knelt down in front of Magnus, reaching out to take his forearms, ignoring the black flames crawling over them. "I'm fine, Magnus, I promise I'm fine," he whispered. 

Magnus bit down on his lip and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against Alec's arm, breathing in the scent of his skin. The nightmare was still there, and he could smell the scent of ash in the air. "Nightmare," he managed, his throat hoarse. "Horrific nightmare." 

"I figured," Alec said, reaching out to brush some of Magnus' hair out of his eyes. "Can you stand up for me so we can get back in bed?" 

Magnus focused on the rest of his body and realized that there were still flames on his hands and extinguished them with a thought, his eyes wide and terrified. "Why, why didn't you tell me, fuck, did I hurt you?" 

"Woah, woah," Alec said, reaching out to calm Magnus again. "The black flames are fine, they haven't hurt me once. They just feel like your normal magic, Magnus. I'm more worried about what they mean for _you."_

Magnus breathed out slowly and looked down at the flames on his arms, and realized that they weren't burning Alexander. He frowned. Why weren't they burning Alexander? 

"Magnus?" Alec called. "Can you stand up?" 

Magnus turned his attention back to Alec and forced a nod, getting himself upright with a grunt. "Yes, yes of course." He shook his head and followed Alec back to the bed. He took a deep breath and settled into the sheets, the magic around his hands finally dissipating. 

Alec got the both of them settled against the giant mound of pillows before he turned to Magnus and wrapped the other warlock into his arms, combing his fingers through Magnus' hair. "How are you feeling? You passed out at the end there." 

"Tired," Magnus managed to mutter. What was worse, was that he wasn't magically exhausted. He had more power brewing in him than he'd had in centuries. "Shouldn't have done that. Didn't mean to." 

"What happened?" Alec asked, nuzzling Magnus' temple. "You're going to be okay, right?" 

Magnus sighed and leaned into Alec. He would need to stay away from the kids for a couple of weeks, if not at least a month. His magic didn't seem to want to hurt Alec, but he had no way of knowing how it would react to other warlock magics. "I'm going to be fine. It'll just take me time to seal it away again." 

"Seal what away?" Alec asked, frowning at Magnus. "What are you referring to?" 

"Some of my magic. The excess, the..." Magnus swallowed and took a shaky breath. "The pieces of it I don't use any longer." 

"There's pieces of your magic you don't use?" Alec asked. "How does that work?" 

Magnus hummed, exhaling hard. Even now, the idea of falling asleep was not one he wanted to contemplate. The nightmares would come for him again, the reminders of what he was, what he had done in the past with this power. "Much of what my father taught me of my magic - the Edom-driven parts of my magic, I sealed away a long time ago." A sigh left him and he curled into Alec. "If I'd had to fight Lilith, I would have released it there, but you all arrived before I could." 

Alec rubbed his hand gently up and down Magnus' back, even as he kept trembling. "Why do you do that? Seal parts of your magic away?" 

"It's dangerous," Magnus explained. He shuddered, remembering how good it had felt to wield today, to have his wishes accomplished with nothing more than a flick of his fingertips. "I don't know why it's not hurting you, but it hurts almost everything else because it's..." he sighed and pressed his face into Alec's neck, kissing at the skin there. "It's pure demonic magic." 

Alec took a second to digest that, breathing out slowly. If Magnus had access to that kind of magic, and he was still as powerful as he was _without_ it... 

"I don't..." Magnus swallowed and sighed. "I don't like having to control it, because it's magic that wants to be _used,_ Alexander. And that's dangerous. What you saw me do today? That's a _fraction_ of what I could do. When I fought in Hell's wars at my father's side, I could wipe out hundreds with nothing more than a thought and the flames would leap to my command." 

Alec shifted to press a kiss to Magnus' forehead. "They came to your command today, and you saved all of us. Saved the city, saved all of the shadowhunters, both Madzie and I." 

Magnus bit down on his lip at the reminder of just how badly the battle today could have gone. And the feeling of water surrounding him, sinking into his lungs as he was pushed under again and again. "Today wasn't a good day," he admitted. "But I need to find a way to seal this before I see the kids again. I won't risk this hurting any of them." 

"You're not going to hurt the kids," Alec said, certainty in his voice as he cupped the back of Magnus' head, tugging him back just enough so their eyes could meet. "You're not. I know you, Magnus. You're not going to hurt them." 

"The power could," Magnus said, looking down at his palm. Black flames, this time tinged in blue, appeared and he scowled at how easy it was, how he barely felt the draw on his magic, even after everything he had done today. 

"You control your power," Alec said, reaching out to tease his fingers through the flames, even though he felt Magnus tense beside him. "That's one of the first things you teach any young warlock. The power in them is under their control, and they just need to learn to control it." 

Magnus huffed and stared at Alec, at the earnestness in his eyes and reached out to pull him into a kiss, even as the flames in his hand died down. "This is just a bit more than a young warlock coming into their powers, Alexander, and you damn well know it." 

"Well, sure," Alec said with a shrug. "I'm not denying that. I'm just saying that you don't need to lock a piece of yourself away, Magnus. You're you, and you are always going to be you." 

Magnus sighed and nuzzled into Alec's collarbone again, breathing gently against his skin. "You have too much faith in me." 

Alec grinned and kissed the top of Magnus' head. "No, I have exactly as much faith in you as I am supposed to have, thank you." 

Magnus swallowed hard and lifted his eyes to look up at Alec. "Let's say I keep it-" 

"You're going to," Alec said, his voice stubborn. "I'm not having you keep a piece of yourself locked away. Especially one that clearly isn't dangerous." 

Magnus gave his husband a hard look and sighed. "Let's say I keep it, darling. But what happens when I need to let it out. It's restless magic. I can't keep it under control as easily as the rest." 

Alec grinned a little and raised his eyebrows in challenge. "What do you think about picking up a patrol or two at the Institute? If we help out with that, it'll give me a chance to keep practicing my own, and you'll have an outlet." 

Magnus blinked. "You'd...we could do that?" 

"We can do anything," Alec said, leaning in to kiss Magnus. "Benefit of having been the former New York Institute Head, and former Inquisitor. Most of the time if I say I want to do something, they go with it." 

Magnus laughed and melted into the soft kiss from Alec, wrapping his arms around Alec's shoulders, pulling him in close. "So what you're saying is that I can keep this? And it just might be okay?"

Alec nodded, reaching out to cup Magnus' cheeks. "And I'll hold you no matter how many nightmares you have." He waited for a beat, chewing on his lower lip before he continued. "You woke up screaming. Are you okay?" 

Magnus blew out a hard breath, leaning into Alec's touch with a small sigh of relief. "I think I'm going to be dreaming of fire and drowning for a while. I might need to look at a sleeping draught." 

"What if I helped?" Alec asked, trailing his fingers through Magnus' hair. "What if I pulled you into my dreams? You could share mine." 

Magnus' eyes widened and his heart tightened, turning over in his chest several times. Dreamwalking was...extremely personal, and if you didn’t trust the other person implicitly, they could use the access to the deepest parts of your mind against you. "You'd dreamwalk with me?" 

Alec smiled and leaned in, kissing Magnus’ nose. “Of course I would. I don’t have anything to hide from you, Magnus.” 

A shaky breath escaped him, but this one was tinged in relief, rather than fear. “That would be amazing.” 

“A long time ago,” Alec whispered. “I asked Catarina to teach me this kind of magic. Because I knew we both struggle with nightmares. And I thought it would be a good way to help counteract that.” 

Magnus smiled and leaned in to kiss Alec, even as he watched white magic, sparking with gold, jump to Alec’s fingertips. When Alec lifted the magic to his temple, he nodded and relaxed at the soothing tug that was trying to draw him into sleep. “I love you,” he whispered. 

“I love you too,” Alec whispered back. He let himself be pulled into the dream with Magnus and exerted a little extra power to draw them into a dream they’d both enjoy. 

~!~

Magnus caught the bo staff automatically, blinking down at it in surprise before he looked up and saw Alec’s smirk. “Here?” 

“Well,” Alec started, raising his eyebrows. “You and I both tend to get a little…” he trailed off and started to grin. “Riled up when fighting, and since the whole, collapsing thing earlier prevented that, I thought we might continue here.” 

Magnus started to laugh. “You know we’re going to wake up and be all over each other?” 

“Oh I know,” Alec said, licking his lips. “In fact.” He danced forward with a quick spin, mimicking Magnus as his husband blocked the attack. “I might be counting on it.” Magnus’ answering laugh made the rest of the tension drain from his shoulders. They were going to be okay. They were. 

**Author's Note:**

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